Customer Reviews

The Frugal Entrepreneur: Creative Ways to Save Time, Energy & Money in Your Business

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I gave it one star because you cannot give it less.

It is a simplistic collection of stupid tidbits that you already have thought about. "Purchase used furniture"(pp. 41-2), "Program voice mail number codes into your speed dial to save time"(p. 33), or "File things where you can find them again,"(pp. 24-5) are three average suggestions from this useless book.

Don't waste your valuable time with this one.

"The Frugal Entrepreneur" is truly a mixed bag of advice - most of the information is either very obvious or fairly useless, but there are a few tasty tidbits sprinkled throughout.

Some of the tips are pure common sense; for example, drop off your mail as opposed to having the shipping company pick it up, or use self-adhesive stamps on your outgoing mail. Others just consist of old adages, such as "measure twice, cut once." Not exactly the sort of thing you should shell out money for - just visit mom and she's sure to offer all this and more for free!

However, the author does throw in a few helpful tips that you might not have thought of on your own. Lonier advises readers to install a second residential phone line in their home office and then covert it to a business line later, thus saving a bundle in fees. While the ethics might be a bit questionable, it's not a strategy that I would have been familiar with otherwise. Same goes for the advice to recycle old letterhead into smaller scratch pads, or to use your voice mail to record ideas that pop into your head when you're away from the office.

If your local library carries this title, it might be worth your time to check out a copy out and thumb through it the next time you're on hold or waiting in line at the post office. After all, what could be more frugal than utilizing the library as opposed to your credit card? Most everyone could learn a new trick or two from "The Frugal Entrepreneur," but certainly not enough to justify actually paying for a new copy.

If your a first timer looking for great tips, tricks & wisdom, take a look at this book offered in Apple computers small business edition 6500/250 Power PC. They threw this book in for first timers, it's a godsend. I love it.

Lonier's short, snappy reference book packs money-saving ideas in a quick read format. Most ideas are plain common sense packaged logically, and expanded beyond the average business owner's imagination. Some ideas solve problems that may have been driving you crazy for years, like curling printer and photocopy paper. This problem can really screw up the job when you are printing on both sides of the paper. Lonier tells you to microwave each ream for two minutes on high.

Small business pro Terry Lonier offers plenty of ways to save money in these pages, especially if you're thinking of creating a teeny, tiny "Ace in the Hole" business on the side.